Everyone has been into a bad conference meeting once in their life. You arrive on time, but it starts 20 minutes late. You listened to the agenda, but the delivery was unclear. And so is the person in charge. Some want to share some ideas but get immediately shut down. Finally, when the meeting ends, nothing gets accomplished. And you feel like you wasted an hour of your life.Â
Fortunately, there is a better way, and this article will tell you how.
The Three Rules of Running a Meeting
If you want to have a successful conference meeting, you’ll need to follow the three rules below:
Set the Agenda
It may seem obvious, but most meetings begin with no sense of direction. So ensure everyone knows why they’ve gathered and what they need to accomplish. The agenda directs the conversation of the meeting so everyone stays on the topic and no one wanders off.
If you set the agenda before the meeting, everyone will be on-topic more quickly.
Start on Time. End on Time.Â
Starting a meeting late can drain the energy of everyone in the room. It’s hard to sit in front of your computer and wait for the person in charge to show up. In the business world, time is money. And if your employees are just sitting around and waiting, you are wasting precious resources.Â
But just as essential as starting a meeting on time, you also need to end on time. A definitive end time ensures an accomplished agenda and lets people get back to work immediately.Â
End With an Action Plan
As you approach the end of the meeting, leave a few minutes to discuss the next steps. You’ll need to discuss who will be responsible for what and tell the deadlines. Or else everything you discussed in the meeting will go down the drain.
Give Everyone a Role
You need to know the roles of participants in your meeting to determine what you want from them. Plus, people can contribute more when they know their roles.
Establish Ground Rules
What is the point of your meeting? Is it to give out orders? Or to discuss ideas? You’ll have to ensure that everyone knows which is which so they can prepare themselves for the meeting.
To help you clarify the meeting to the people, you can establish some ground rules. For example, you can put a light bulb on the bulletin board if your meeting needs opinions from participants. And a pointing finger if you plan to give orders.Â
Know Every One of the ParticipantsÂ
When you are having a conference meeting, ensure you know everyone participating. Knowing the participants means you can address them properly and know who to ask when you have questions or need some clarification.
Keep Track Of Participant’s Attention
It’s easy to lose people’s attention in a conference meeting. And when it happens, the host can receive some negative feedback. So you need to ensure that you have everyone’s attention. Or your conference meeting can fail.
Embrace Conference Technology
You’ll have a much easier time setting up a conference meeting if you have the right tools. So it would be best if you use an online conference software. You can download some for free while others you’ll have to pay for since they have more features than the free ones.
Conclusion
Conducting a successful conference is no easy task. You can have the right equipment, like those in Logitech Group. But if nobody listens or has no clear agenda, nothing will get accomplished, and you’ll waste people’s time. So follow the tips above to ensure a successful conference meeting.
